Les Lear

Leslie Lear (August 22, 1918 – January 5, 1979) was a National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) player and coach as well as an owner and trainer of Thoroughbred race horses.

Les Lear

Date of birth	(1918-08-22)August 22, 1918
Place of birth	Grafton, North Dakota, U.S.
Date of death	January 5, 1979(1979-01-05) (aged 60)
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)	Offensive tackle
Canada university	Manitoba
Career history
As coach
1948–1950	Calgary Stampeders (HC)
As player
1938–1943	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
1944–1946	Cleveland/L.A. Rams
1947	Detroit Lions
1948–1950	Calgary Stampeders
Career highlights and awards
NFL champion (1945) 3× Grey Cup champion (1939, 1941, 1948) Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (2019) CFL All-Star - 1941, 1943
Career stats
Canadian Football Hall of Fame, 1974
Horse racing career
Occupation	Trainer and owner
Major racing wins
Major U.S. wins: Suwannee River Stakes (1962) Saratoga Special Stakes (1964) Laurel Futurity Stakes (1964) Garden State Stakes (1964) Sorority Stakes (1965) Kentucky Oaks (1966) Major Canadian Wins: Highlander Stakes (1960) Marine Stakes (1961) Manitoba Derby (1971) Toronto Cup Stakes (1971) Jockey Club Cup Handicap (1971)

Football

He grew up in Manitoba, Canada, where he played guard at the University of Manitoba. Lear started his professional football career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and helped the team to two Grey Cup victories. In 1944, he signed with the Cleveland Rams of the NFL becoming the first Canadian-trained player to play in the NFL. He would play a total of 4 seasons in the NFL. After his stint in the NFL, Lear returned to Canada where he coached the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders to an undefeated season in 1948- the only CFL team to go undefeated in a season.^[1]

CFL coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season					Postseason
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Result
CGY	1948	12	0	0	1.000	1st in Western Interprovincial Football Union	3	0	Won Grey Cup
CGY	1949	13	1	0	.929	1st in Western Interprovincial Football Union	2	1	Lost in Grey Cup
CGY	1950	4	10	0	.286	4th in Western Interprovincial Football Union
Total		29	11	0	.725		5	1	1 Grey Cup

Horse racing

Following his retirement from football, Les Lear became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing both as a horse trainer and an owner.

Later life and death

Lear was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of kidney failure on January 5, 1979.^[2]

Lear was posthumously inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.^[3]